Scottish Executive

Civil Servants

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to have a civil servant posted in Paris and Berlin, what other countries are being considered as possible locations for Executive representatives and, in each case, what the reasons are for its position.

Mr Jack McConnell: There are no plans to have a civil servant posted in Paris or Berlin. Civil servants may be posted to other countries for a variety of reasons; for example, inward investment or EU policy development. At present there are Scottish Executive civil servants in Belgium, USA and the Czech Republic.

Contraception

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any minimum age has been set below which the morning-after pill will not be prescribed.

Susan Deacon: A decision to prescribe emergency hormonal contraception, as with any other drug or treatment, depends on the clinical judgment of the health professional concerned, informed by advice and guidance about its use. No minimum age has been set below which emergency hormonal contraception will not be prescribed.

  The marketing authorisation for Levonelle, which may be sold without a prescription under the supervision of a pharmacist, restricts its sale to women aged 16 and over.

Council Tax

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has given to local authorities who have to issue final demands for council tax to individuals who have become unemployed but whose application for benefit is taking 14 weeks or more to process.

Peter Peacock: Overall responsibility for the Council Tax Benefit Scheme rests with the Department of Social Security. However, through the work of the joint It Pays to Pay Working Group on council tax collection, which we established, COSLA and the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation are jointly preparing best practice guidance for local authorities on council tax collection and enforcement. The working group has encouraged councils to take account of the circumstances of individual tax payers in taking forward any recovery procedures.

Drug Misuse

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or will make to Her Majesty’s Government regarding the impact which the current classification of benzodiazepines under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 has on the number of people who misuse these substances.

Susan Deacon: We have no plans to make representations to the UK Government about the current classification of benzodiazepines under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Benzodiazepines are controlled under the 1971 Act to protect against the misuse of these drugs. Most benzodiazepines are Class C drugs. All of them are classified as Prescription Only Medicines under the Medicines Act 1968. The responsibility for prescribing benzodiazepines rests with individual GPs.

Families

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in expanding support for families and very young children through family centres, and mobile and outreach services, for at least 5,000 additional children by 2002, as set out in the Making it work together - A programme for government .

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has already provided £23 million, and will be providing a further £57 million for the three forward years from April 2001, to expand support for families with very young children through Sure Start Scotland. This funding has been allocated to local authorities. Guidance has been issued to local authorities outlining the main aims and objectives of Sure Start Scotland.

  We are making good progress in reaching the programme for government target.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it instructed any of its civil servants to bring to the attention of the media any disagreement within the fishing industry over the content of the recently announced fisheries aid package.

Rhona Brankin: Officials in the Media and Communications Group and relevant Special Advisers regularly explain to the media the Executive’s position on current policy issues, and the context in which the Executive’s policy has been determined.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Scotland have been identified as having been contracted by airborne transmission and how many by direct contact.

Ross Finnie: Initial studies based on observations made in other countries suggest that airborne transmission from infected premises has not been a prominent feature of the current foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. The spread appears mainly to be by direct contact particularly through sheep. The position is being monitored very carefully as the outbreak continues.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will respond to the proposals set out in the recovery plan presented to the First Minister by Dumfries and Galloway Council on 18 April 2001.

Ross Finnie: The Executive is giving urgent consideration to the Dumfries and Galloway Economic Recovery Plan which was presented to the First Minister on 18 April. Consideration of the plan needs to be taken forward in the context of the work already under way to plan for the recovery of the Scottish economy from the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. Clearly our response will depend upon the final extent and duration of the disease.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which ministers and departments are actively considering the proposals for economic recovery presented to the First Minister by Dumfries and Galloway Council and partner organisations on 18 April 2001 and when preliminary responses will be available.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15199.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why a fee of £50 is imposed on farmers and crofters by the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department in respect of applications for a license to move stock.

Ross Finnie: No fee is imposed on farmers and crofters by the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department in respect of applications for a license to move stock. If a proposed livestock movement is not covered by the General Movement licence (possible only in the Provisionally Free Area), an application must be made to the local SERAD Area Office for an individual licence to move livestock. This is processed by SERAD staff without any charge. The farmer or crofter is required to abide by the conditions of the licence which may incur costs.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £13.5 million additional funding for businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak announced on 28 March 2001 has been or will be allocated to Scottish Borders Council.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Executive fully appreciates the impact which the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak is having in the South of Scotland. The £13.5 million emergency relief package which I announced on 2 April made available considerable resources to support those areas worst affected by the disease. As an immediate measure, Scottish Enterprise Borders were allocated £150,000 from the additional funding given to the Enterprise Networks. £100,000 has gone to the Borders Tourist Board from the VisitScotland’s allocation. Businesses in the Borders will also receive additional funding through the Scotland-wide elements of the emergency package, including the hardship rates relief scheme, estimated to be worth up to £3.5 million for businesses across Scotland.

  The First Minister and ministerial colleagues met representatives from the Borders on 29 May, to discuss the impact of foot-and-mouth disease in the Borders, and what medium- to long-term measures might be required to assist recovery. A positive meeting between local agencies and Executive officials took place on 8 June, to discuss the detail of the plan. Consideration of recovery measures will be taken forward in the context of national recovery strategies.

Health

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether school nurses are permitted to inspect the heads of children in relation to identifying those infected by an outbreak of headlice.

Susan Deacon: There is nothing to prevent school nurses from conducting such inspections with appropriate consent. However, most health boards have now moved away from routine inspections of children for headlice.

  The only effective means of conducting an inspection is by wet combing, which involves thoroughly washing and conditioning the hair then combing it through in layers, a process which can take between 30 to 45 minutes per child and which is not practical in a school setting. Additionally, in order to be effective, inspections require to be undertaken on a regular basis. However, inspecting a class on one day is no guarantee that there will not be an infection the next.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty’s Government regarding the contribution which harmonisation of VAT on building work at 5% for both new build housing and repair could make to improving the quality of housing stock in Scotland.

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive is constantly in touch with the UK Government on a range of matters, including taxation.

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many robberies involving (a) firearms and (b) handguns were committed in (i) 1995-96, (ii) 1996-97, (iii) 1997-98, (iv) 1998-99 and (v) 1999-2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is given in the table:

  Robberies recorded by the police in Scotland in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, 1995-96 to 1999-2000

  


 


Financial year 
  



 


1995-96 
  

1996-97 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000
(provisional) 
  



Robberies involving pistol/revolver 
  

44 
  

103 
  

66 
  

67 
  

49 
  



Total robberies involving firearms 
  

233 
  

221 
  

122 
  

140 
  

119

Landfill

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Small Area Statistics Unit study into the possible health effects of landfill sites will identify specifically the health effects of such sites on people living within a three kilometre distance of sites.

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Small Area Statistics Unit study into the possible effects of landfill sites will compare possible health effects of landfill sites on people living within 3 km of such sites with those on people living three to 7 km from sites.

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Small Area Statistics Unit study into the possible health effects of landfill sites will report separately on any birth defects and miscarriages, cancer occurrences, respiratory problems and dermatological effects experienced by people living near such sites.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) study will compare health outcomes in people living within 2km of landfill sites with the health outcomes in the rest of the population. The 2 km band was chosen to optimise the study design and is in line with the conclusion of a World Health Organisation workshop held in April 2000 on exposure assessment around landfill sites. The study will cover the whole of Great Britain but importantly will also report the findings of the main analyses separately for Scotland.

  The SAHSU study will report on a number of health outcomes including birth defects and the incidence of certain types of cancer. Further information about the study is available on the Department of Health Internet Site (http://doh.gov.uk/land2.htm).

  The health information used by SAHSU in this study is routinely collected data which have been supplied by the Office for National Statistics, the Information and Statistics Division of NHSScotland and the General Register Office for Scotland. Health Boards in Scotland did not submit data to the study.

  Information, including the location and operating conditions for licensed landfill sites in Scotland, was supplied to SAHSU by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Local Government Finance

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends three-year budgets for local authorities to be set annually on a rolling programme or set every three years.

Peter Peacock: The settlement announcements will fit with the Spending Review cycle. The next Spending Review, scheduled for 2002, will allow us to roll forward the settlement for a further three-year period.

Local Government Finance

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding for (a) Social Inclusion Partnerships, (b) CCTV installation, (c) community safety projects and (d) New Housing Partnerships has been committed to each local authority area or the smallest identifiable geographical area within the North-East Scotland parliamentary region in each year from 1997-98 to the current financial year and whether it will show each figure as a percentage of the funding made available for this purpose in Scotland in each of these years.

Jackie Baillie: The available information is as follows:

  


 


£000 
  



 


1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Social Inclusion Partnerships 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

1,520 (3%)* 
  

1,040 (2%) 
  

809 (1%) 
  

844 (1%) 
  

940 (1%) 
  



Dundee City 
  

3,946 (7%) 
  

3,839 (7%) 
  

3,660 (7%) 
  

3,177 (4%) 
  

3,158 (4%) 
  



CCTV 
  


 

296 (16%) 
  

- 
  

100 (7%) 
  

83 (5%) 
  

150 (9%) 
  



Community Safety 
  



 


- 
  

- 
  

- 
  

250 (22%) 
  

41 (3%) 
  



  New Housing Partnerships

  

 

1997
Funding Round 
  

1998
Funding Round 
  

1999-2002 Funding Round 
  



1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-02 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

223 (2.3%) 
  

65 (0.2%) 
  

929 (4.4%) 
  

2,088 (3%) 
  

3,753 (6.7%) 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

367 (3.6%) 
  

330 (0.9%) 
  

67 (0.3%) 
  

1,188 (1.7%) 
  

736 (1.3%) 
  



Dundee City1


324 (3.2%) 
  

3,275 (8.9%) 
  

1,381 (6.6%) 
  

8,309 (11.9%) 
  

14,165 (25%) 
  



  ( )* Denotes figure as a percentage of total funding made available in each of these years.

  Notes:

  1. The figures for the 1999-2002 funding round include continuation funding relating to the 1998 allocation.

  Out of seven applications made for funding for CCTV projects within the North-East Scotland parliamentary region between 1997-98 and 2001-02 (no applications were made in 1998-99), six were successful.

  Funding for community safety projects did not start until 2000-01. Out of six applications made over the two years, four were successful.

  Information on New Housing Partnerships funding is held on a local authority basis. Details of the sums allocated to the three local authorities wholly contained in the North-East Scotland Parliamentary Region are set out in the table.

NHS Equipment

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or intends to take, to encourage the standardisation and co-operative purchasing of medical equipment across NHS Trusts.

Susan Deacon: Scottish Healthcare Supplies currently work closely with individual NHS Trusts to ensure that opportunities for standardisation and co-operative procurement of medical equipment are maximised.

  In spring 2000 Scottish Healthcare Supplies launched a major new initiative, the Strategic Alliance Partnership, in order to maximise benefits for economies of scale, rationalisation and standardisation.

  The Strategic Alliance Partnership aims to identify any commercial opportunity that will achieve savings for NHSScotland. Work will include the standardisation of items in use and rationalisation of the supplier base which should increase the negotiating position of NHSScotland. Launched last spring, this initiative is expected to deliver results within the next two years.

  Scottish Healthcare Supplies are central to the procurement of medical equipment from the £30 million additional capital made available earlier in 2000-01. They anticipate significant savings to the NHSScotland as a result of this centralised activity.

  Another example of co-operative purchasing is the recent central procurement initiative for linear accelerators and simulators. This resulted in a saving of around £1 million and an investment package of £5.8 million that benefited four of the five cancer centres. Further investments under the same procurement process are being planned.

Prison Service

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the additional £10 million earmarked for work with prisoners with a drug problem in the period 2001-02 to 2003-04 has been allocated to each prison in each year and what criteria were used to determine these allocations.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Additional funding for expanding work performed within the Scottish Prison Service drug strategy has not been allocated to individual establishments, it will be managed centrally.

Prison Service

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners who had been subjected to a self-harm risk assessment were transferred from Kilmarnock Prison to Low Moss in the last year and, of these, how many were Ayrshire home-based.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  All prisoners admitted into prison are assessed for suicide risk - therefore all prisoners who are subsequently transferred will have been assessed at least once, and then again when they are admitted into a new location. We do not have details of how many prisoners transferred to Low Moss are from Ayrshire.

Public Transport

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13592 by Sarah Boyack on 23 February 2001, whether its plan to equalise the age of eligibility for concessionary travel will be in force before October 2002.

Sarah Boyack: This change requires the amendment of primary legislation, and when that is in place I will consider whether this change to concessionary fare arrangements can be implemented in October 2002, in line with the introduction of free off-peak local bus travel for pensioners and people with special needs.

School Meals

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had or is planning to have regarding extending entitlement to free school meals to schoolchildren whose parents receive Working Families Tax Credit or Disabled Persons Tax Credit.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can provide examples of local authority best and worst practice in the provision of free school meals, with particular regard to ensuring the anonymity of pupils receiving free school meals.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to conduct research into best practice in the provision of free school meals in other countries.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to conduct research into why many children do not take up their entitlement to free school meals.

Mr Jack McConnell: An amendment proposing an extension of entitlement to free school meals to schoolchildren whose parents receive Working Families Tax Credit or Disabled Person’s Tax Credit was considered and rejected during the passage of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000. The level of Working Families Tax Credit and Disabled Person’s Tax Credit is a reserved matter.

  Ministers are committed to quality school meals, other healthy eating initiatives and improving the uptake of both. However, we do not collect information about the arrangements which education authorities operate for the provision of free school meals. Authorities are aware of their responsibilities, and in making such arrangements it is for them to take into account questions surrounding the identification of pupils receiving free school meals.

  There are no immediate plans to conduct research into best practice in the provision of free school meals in other countries or into why children do not take up their entitlement to free school meals. We have, however, raised the matter of uptake with COSLA and have agreed to further joint discussion with them about this.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on advertising in each of the last three months and how much it spent in the equivalent period in 2000.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is given in table format – a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s reference centre (Bib. no. 13828).

Scottish Executive Expenditure

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on advertising in respect of policy initiatives or campaigns in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01, broken down by calendar month, campaign and medium.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is given in table format – a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s reference centre (Bib number 13751).

Sensory Impaired People

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to implement the recommendations of the 1998 Scottish Office Report Sensing Progress .

Nicol Stephen: In examining services for the Chief Social Work Inspector’s Annual Report for 2002, officials will seek up to date information on local progress in implementing the recommendations of Sensing Progress .

  A working group consisting of representatives from various deafblind organisations and appropriate officials has been set up under the auspices of the Equality Unit. The aim is to look at a positive way forward to identify the various cross-cutting issues facing people with sensory impairment.

  The working group on certification and registration in relation to people with visual impairment has produced its report, which is now being considered by ministers.

Sheltered Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many very sheltered housing dwellings there were in (a) 1998-99 (b) 1999-2000 and (c) 2000-01 and how many it estimates that there will be by the end of 2001-02, broken down by local authority.

Jackie Baillie: The numbers of very sheltered dwellings within each local authority area as at the end of 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are shown in the table. The figures presented cover the social rented sector only, and exclude very sheltered dwellings in the private sector. Figures for 2000-01 will be available in September 2001.

  There are no centrally held estimates of the numbers of very sheltered dwellings which there will be in each local authority area by the end of 2001-02.

  Number of Very Sheltered Housing Dwellings in the Social Rented Sector (Local Authority, Scottish Homes and Housing Association), by Local Authority Area as at the end of 1998-99 and 1999-2000

  


 


Number of Dwellings as at the end of: 
  



 


1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  



Scotland1


1,389 
  

1,672 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

94 
  

95 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

50 
  

50 
  



Angus 
  

0 
  

27 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

29 
  

29 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

88 
  

88 
  



Dumfries & Galloway2


 


87 
  



Dundee City 
  

128 
  

162 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

21 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

28 
  

28 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

41 
  

41 
  



City of Edinburgh 
  

109 
  

109 
  



Falkirk 
  

47 
  

47 
  



Fife 
  

83 
  

88 
  



City of Glasgow 
  

194 
  

203 
  



Highland 
  

6 
  

10 
  



Inverclyde 
  

39 
  

78 
  



Midlothian 
  

35 
  

35 
  



Moray3


32 
  

 




North Ayrshire 
  

25 
  

25 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

39 
  

44 
  



Orkney 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

79 
  

115 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

30 
  

46 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

69 
  

67 
  



Shetland 
  

25 
  

25 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

8 
  

8 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

19 
  

60 
  



Stirling 
  

20 
  

20 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

25 
  

34 
  



West Lothian 
  

47 
  

30 
  



Western Isles 
  

0 
  

0 
  



  Notes:

  1. Excludes Dumfries and Galloway in 1998-99 and Moray in 1999-2000.

  2. The Dumfries & Galloway figure for 1998-99 is currently unavailable.

  3. The Moray figure for 1999-2000 is currently unavailable.

Sport

Dr Winnie Ewing (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Camanachd Association will receive in core funding from  sportscotland over the next four years and how much core funding the association has sought from  sportscotland for this period.

Allan Wilson: sportscotland’s financial planning cycle covers the next three years. The Camanachd Association has been allocated £15,000 per year for the next three years from Exchequer funding for the period covered by the cycle. The association has also been allocated an additional £56,000 per year for the next three years, again from Exchequer funding. The total amount being made available will therefore be £71,000 per year. This funding will enable the association to continue to meet the costs of a national youth sport co-ordinator and two local development officers. The amounts requested by the association were £49,670 for the current year, £51,315 for 2002-03 and £52,920 for 2003-04.

Tourism

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the firm used to select candidates for the post of chief executive of VisitScotland had responsibility for ensuring that the successful candidate had no other conflicting executive commitments.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This is a matter for VisitScotland but I understand that, whilst it is normal practice for recruitment consultants to look into the background of candidates, it is not common practice to place with recruitment consultants a duty to ensure that candidates have no other conflicting interests.

Transport

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive,  further to its letter of 5 April 2001 to Mr Geoff Coleman in connection with the Strathclyde Regional Council (Dalblair Road/Miller Road/Racecourse Road, Ayr Traffic Management) Compulsory Purchase Order 1991, who has indicated support for the Order and, in each case, when that support was indicated.

Sarah Boyack: Seven representations expressing support for the scheme were received between 1997 and 1999. Five of these were from individuals and two from businesses in the area. It would not be appropriate to divulge personal details without having first obtained the consent of those involved.